Florida cops plan to photograph motorists who drive too close to sex workers

Police in Sanford, Florida, will begin photographing motorists they suspect are trying to pick up prostitutes and notifying them by mail that they were spotted, WKMG-TV reported on Monday.

“If you’re loitering in the city at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning or 3 o’clock in the morning after the bars let out and you’re in some of these neighborhoods and you’re in and out, in and out, in and out, yeah, that would kind of flag it,” Lt. Tim Santiago told WKMG. Santiago is credited as being behind the new tactic.

The “Dear John” letters, as they’re called, will include photos of the recipient’s vehicle and license plate. Officers will reportedly use special license-plate readers to capture the images.

Police are “likely to expose themselves to civil-liberty complaints should they send these notices to innocent persons and inadvertently cause marital disruption,” attorney Richard Hornsby told the Sentinel, adding that if officers already have probable cause to suspect a motorist of attempting to solicit a sex worker, “then they have a sufficient basis to make an investigative detention for the crime of solicitation of prostitution.”

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Arturo R. García is the managing editor at Racialicious.com. He is based in San Diego, California and has written for both print and broadcast media, including contributions to GlobalComment.com, The Root and Comment Is Free. Follow him on Twitter at @ABoyNamedArt